Supernatural - An Alternate Universe - Episode 1: The Rewritten Pilot
by Billie Marie
Summary: This is the first episode of an ongoing series. It is 'The Pilot' rewritten. Dean and Sam do look for their father and hunt a woman in white, but they do it with the help of Bobby's daughter, Jane Singer. See the author's note for a further summary.
1. Author's Note

SUPERNATURAL - AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE - EPISODE 1: THE REWRITTEN PILOT

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Author's note:

'Supernatural - An Alternate Universe' is a set of stories that rewrite _Supernatural_. Not that I don't love the show as is, because I'm pretty obsessed. This is just a version that's been in my head for awhile and I've decided to share it.

If I mention or rewrite parts of episodes, I will warn you at the beginnings of each story. I'm going to try not (but can't promise) to totally rewrite a whole episode (except for maybe 'The Pilot'). That would be repetitive and boring and I really hope anything I do rewrite won't be. I will be writing in a narrative form, which will allow me to explore what characters are thinking and feeling. It will also allow me to elaborate on certain details.

So, what is the same? John Winchester hunts because of Mary's death in Sam's nursery. Dean, who carried Sam out of the nursery, was trained to follow in his father's footsteps. Sam was trained too, but rebelled and went to Stanford.

Demons and angels exist.

So, what's different? Most of that will be explained throughout the series. The major thing is that Bobby Singer has a daughter, Jane. She is two years younger than Dean and two years older than Sam, which makes her twenty-four at the time of 'The Rewritten Pilot'. She grew up with the brothers, as their fathers worked together, and eventually became romantically involved with Dean. Although Bobby trained Jane to be a hunter, he made sure she had as normal a childhood as possible.

Jane looks a lot like her mother, Karen Singer. She is blonde and around the same height, 5' 7". She has Bobby's eyes - bluish gray - and a more athletic build than either parent.

That's all I can say here. Except, I'm new at writing action scenes. I'm better with dialogue and feelings. I do hope you enjoy the story, even if it may be a bit slow paced. Comments and reviews are appreciated and, of course, I don't own _Supernatural_ or it's characters.

Lastly, to be safe, in case I write in sex scenes, all stories will have an 'M' rating.


	2. Chapter 1

**Warning: This chapter is heavily based on _Supernatural's_ first episode. A big thank you to the transcript section of the Supernatural Wiki website (which I don't own either).**

 **My story actually begins just after Sam and Dean's skirmish in Sam's kitchen, as everything up till then is the same as in the show. Enjoy.**

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Sam Winchester never thought he'd be in this position...on his back...after losing a fight in his own kitchen...to his older brother Dean, of all people.

His day had started out normal enough. Better than normal. He'd received his LSAT score. A 174 out of 180, which had helped Sam receive an interview to Stanford's law school that he was sure he would nail.

Sam was so happy, he'd forgotten about the Halloween party his girlfriend, Jessica Moore, had planned to drag him to. Okay, maybe not forgotten. That was too accidental. He'd purposefully refused to think about it in hopes that Jess would forget.

Sam hated Halloween. In his old life, it was Halloween every day of the year, even when he was too young to know it. When he did learn that werewolves, ghouls and ghosts - to name only a few of the horrors out there - were real, and that his father hunted them, he fought hard to have a normal life...one filled with books, friends, even a few girlfriends, soccer games, school and schoolwork, high academic achievement, and after school clubs.

His fight for normal resulted in a scholarship to study pre-law at Stanford and a knockout, long-term girlfriend who he was considering marrying.

But having a normal life didn't mean he had to like Halloween...no matter how good Jess had looked in her sexy nurse costume...no matter how much fun he'd had getting her out of it once they'd returned home...

And now his old life was colliding headfirst with his chosen normal...

"That's 'cause you're out of practice," Dean said in response to Sam admitting to being scared by him.

 _'Out of practice, my ass,'_ Sam thought, in a moment of anger. To prove Dean wrong, Sam flipped his brother over.

Finding himself now on his back, Dean had to give his 'not so little' baby brother some credit, "Or not."

The sound of someone coming closer and clearing their throat interrupted the brothers. That's when Sam remembered that, before attacking Dean, he'd pushed a smaller figure aside. Now Sam looked to his left and said, "Jane."

"Hey, Sam," said Jane Singer, the brothers childhood friend - turned Dean's girlfriend. She viewed the handsome young men with an odd half amused / half bored look on her face. "If you two are done with your game of one-ups-manship..."

"Right," Dean replied, ready to get off the floor. To Sam, he said, "Get off me."

Sam did, rolling to his feet, and pulling Dean up too. "What the hell are you doing here, Dean?"

Sam was clearly not happy to see his brother, so Dean tried humor to lighten the mood, "Well, I was looking for a beer." Then, Dean put his hands on Sam's shoulders. His baby brother was way too tall. It wasn't fair...but Dean so wanted to hug the kid. He'd missed Sam so much. But before he gave into his feelings and hugged the stuffing out of his brother, Dean shook Sam once and let go.

Sam ignored Dean's awkward behavior and repeated, "What the hell are you doing here, Dean?"

"Okay. All right," Dean said. "We need to talk."

"Uh, the phone?" Sam replied.

"If I'd'a called, would you have picked up?" Dean shot back. He was becoming defensive in response to Sam's attitude. "I don't see you asking Jane what she's doing here or why she didn't use the phone."

"Because she does use the phone," Sam said, "and she does visit...after calling...though she usually uses the door." Sam looks to Jane.

"Sorry about coming through the window," Jane said. It hadn't been her idea to break and enter. Jane was going to say as much when the kitchen light suddenly turned on.

The brothers and Jane looked towards the kitchen doorway to see Jessica standing there. "Sam?" She questioned.

'So much for hoping Jess would sleep through the family reunion,' thought Sam. He sighed and said, "Jess, hey...you remember Jane."

That caused Dean to react. He looked at Jane, "How exactly would she remember you?"

"Not now," Jane quickly replied to Dean. To Jess, she said, "Hi."

Jess said hi back, but didn't understand why Sam's friend would be in their kitchen at three in the morning. And who was the guy in the leather jacket?

Sam saw Jess look at Dean...and Dean was looking back...clearly checking out the leggy blonde dressed in very short shorts and a crop top with _The Smurfs_ pictured on it. Sam rushed to explain, "Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jess." Sam couldn't help but feel possessive. Dean had his own girlfriend; he didn't need to be checking Sam's out.

"Wait," Jess said, "your brother Dean?" Sam nodded. Jess continued, looking to Jane, " You finally convinced him to take time off?"

"Huh?" Dean asked, confused.

Jane gritted her teeth, "Not now."

Dean glared at Jane, and then looked to Jessica. Putting on a charming grin, Dean moved towards Sam's girlfriend. Staring at her shirt, he said, "Oh, I love _The Smurfs._ You know...I gotta tell you...you are completely out of my brother's league." He meant it, not because she was too good or beautiful for Sam, but because she was an unattainable goal.

Jane saw that Sam was getting increasingly upset by Dean's attentions being focused on Jess. Jane wasn't too happy either.

Jess, feeling slightly uneasy herself, said, "Just let me put something on."

But as she turned to go, Dean said, "No, no, no. I wouldn't dream of it." She was the best thing he'd seen in months, years even. "Seriously."

Jane had had enough and admonished, "Dean!" Dean looked at her and could see the jealousy in her eyes. Jane paused and collected herself. "I think we should get on to what we came here for."

"Right," Dean agreed. Looking back to Jess, while walking back to Sam and Jane, he said, "We gotta borrow your boyfriend here...talk about some private family business...but, uh, nice meeting you."

Fed up with his brother's cocky attitude, Sam said, "No," and went over to Jess. He put a protective arm around her. "No. Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

"Okay," Dean said. He said his next words in a way Sam would understand him, but Jess wouldn't. "Um...Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

Considering how their dad was, this was hardly news to Sam. He replied, "So, he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Hopefully, sober.

Dean ducked his head, thinking, 'C _ome on, Sam, you're smarter than that.'_ He looked back up, and said - this time emphasizing certain words - in hope that he wouldn't have to reveal the family secret to Jess, "Dad's on a **hunting** **trip**. And he hasn't been **home** in a few days."

With Jess looking at him confused, Sam said without expression, "Jess...excuse us. We have to go outside." No way in hell was Jess going to get dragged into his past life.

Once outside of the apartment and walking down the stairwell - with Dean leading and Jane in the middle - Sam let his temper show, "I mean, come on. You two can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you."

"We don't expect..." Jane said quickly...

But Dean interrupted, "The hell we don't." To Sam, he was close to pleading, "You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. We need you to help us find him."

"No we...," Jane started to counter...

But this time, Sam interrupted, "Dean. You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine." Sam looked to Jane, "Even your father's gone missing. It's part of the job."

"At least he..." _calls_...Jane tried...

And failed, as Dean - as he stopped on the stairwell - said, "Not for this long. Now, are you gonna come with us or not?"

Sam put his foot down, "I'm not."

Dean was floored, "Why not?"

Sam explained, "I swore I was done hunting...for good." Then he stared hard at Jane, "I told you I didn't want to see him if he was going to be like this."

Dean stared at Jane too, "Told you? When did he tell you?" He didn't even give Jane a chance to answer this time as he asked Sam, "And like what?"

Sam replied, "Too caught up in the job." _Like Dad._

"This isn't a job; its Dad," Dean responded. "And even if this were a regular job, so what? Hunting isn't easy, but it isn't that bad." He really didn't want to argue about this anymore and started down the stairs again.

Sam followed, actually walking past Jane, and ready to continue arguing. "Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45."

Dean stopped at the door of the apartment building and countered, "Well, what was he supposed to do?"

"I was nine years old!" Sam shouted. "He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark."

"Don't be afraid of the dark?" Dean said, skeptically. "Are you kidding me? Of course ou should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there."

"Yeah, I know," Sam agreed for a moment. But just a moment. "But still...the way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her..."

Dean glanced at the outside door and Jane knew that, at the mention of the brothers' mother, that this conversation had just taken an uncomfortable turn for him.

Sam pressed on , "But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find."

"We save a lot of people doing it, too," Dean said. He'd always believed that hunting was not just about avenging their mother, but also about keeping other families from going through what they had.

Sam wouldn't let up, "You think Mom would have wanted this for us?"

That was too much for Dean to hear. In defense of his built up emotions, Dean rolled his eyes and walked out the door - slamming it hard.

Jane walked past the younger man, saying, "Please, Sam..." Enough was enough. But she understood Sam's feelings too and didn't want to come down hard on him. Instead, she followed Dean out the door.

Sam followed her, and the three climbed some stairs, into the parking lot. He didn't heed Jane's warning and continued, "The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors."

The three crossed the parking lot to Dean's car, a 1967 black Chevy Impala.

"So what are you gonna do?" Dean wondered. "You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life. Is that it?"

"No," Sam stated. "Not normal. Safe." To him, life shouldn't be about remembering to lay down salt lines when you enter a place. And you should have a place of your own, and not crash in sleazy motel rooms paid for by stolen credit cards. And you should be able to sleep without first having to be stitched up so you don't bleed on the bed.

"And that's why you ran away," Dean said and then looked away, his emotions once again too much for him.

"I was just going to college," said Sam. He looked to Jane, "Didn't you explain this to him?"

"Is it my turn to talk?" Jane asked, tired of being interrupted and not missing getting stuck in the middle of the brothers' arguments. When neither man said anything, she continued, "I tried. But things aren't the way they were when you left..." She paused.

Sam looked from Jane to Dean and back to Jane, and finally picked up on how off they were acting with each other. And then Dean's behavior towards Jess..."Oh my...you broke up." Both Dean and Jane glanced away, confirming his statement. "When?"

"About two years ago," said Jane.

"But we talked...you visited...you never said anything..." Sam was shocked. Dean and Jane had been together for forever it seemed...even when they didn't know it.

"I found out she talked to you on the phone just before we came here," Dean said. "And I didn't know she visited." He looked to Jane, "You've been keeping secrets from everybody."

 _'You have no idea,'_ Jane thought.

"And that's how you met Jessica," said Dean. Jane nodded. "Who did you tell her you were?"

Jane said, "Your girlfriend."

"And that didn't look weird that you'd shown up at **my** brother's apartment without me?" Dean asked.

Jane explained, "I said I was in California on my way to visit family. Which wasn't a complete stretch because I was visiting Sam." She made a face, "And I had to go to a nearby town and bail Uncle Rufus out of jail...again."

"And where'd you say I was in all this?" wondered Dean.

"On a job with your dad that you couldn't get out of," Jane said. "Not exactly a stretch either." The job had often kept her and Dean apart. "Now getting back to John..."

"Right," Sam agreed, though he wanted to know why Dean and Jane broke up. "You know, it was Dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing."

 _'But you left me too, Sam,'_ Dean wanted to say, but he stayed on track. "Yeah, well, Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it." When Sam said nothing, Dean continued, "We can't do this alone."

"Yes, you can," Sam said, firmly.

Dean looked down. He didn't want Sam to see how much Dean missed him. "Yeah, well, we..."

Jane cleared her throat. It had been Dean's idea to come get Sam, not hers.

"I don't want to," Dean corrected himself.

Sam sighed and looked down. He finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to hear what Dean had to say. He looked at his brother, "What was Dad hunting?"


	3. Chapter 2

After Dean showed him some papers reporting the disappearances of ten men in the past twenty years all along the same five-mile stretch of road outside of Jericho, California (just the men, not the cars)...

And after stating that Dad left about three weeks ago on this case, (surprisingly allowing Dean to hunt on his own)...

And after Dean played a voicemail from John, received the other day, (the only contact Dean had had from their father in three weeks) warning his oldest son that, 'Something big was starting"..."I need to try and figure out what's going on"..."Be very careful, Dean"..."We're all danger."...

And after hearing the EVP within John's message, which when cleared up had the voice of a woman saying, "I can never go home," on it...

Only then did Sam give in and agree to go with Dean and Jane to find John Winchester. But that was also with the promise that he would be back first thing Monday morning so he could make his law school interview. He packed and said goodbye to an understandably confused Jess...and hit the road, taking up the shotgun position in the Impala.

Jane had moved to the backseat, hoping the closer proximity of the brothers would get them talking to each other. And she didn't really want to be any closer to Dean than necessary.

Dean wasn't planning on talking much at all though and was blasting his pre-1980's mullet rock to prove it. Needless to say that, when Dean stopped at a gas station to refuel and use the bathroom at around seven on Sunday morning, and went into the store (alone) to pay, Sam and Jane were glad for the peace and quiet.

Sam opened the passenger side door and stretched his legs out of it, though he remained sitting. He glanced around the Impala's interior. It was weird to be back inside the only real home he'd ever known as a kid, aside from Jane's father's house. Sam's gaze finally landed on the box holding Dean's tape collection. Actually, it had been Dad's. He picked up the box, hoping maybe it would have something a little more his taste...and then heard the back door on his side slam.

Sam looked to see Jane standing outside and then watched her climb up onto the Impala's roof. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting some sun," Jane replied, taking her black leather jacket (paired with black leather pants) off just enough to reveal slightly muscled shoulders. She didn't wear layers the way the Winchesters did, unless it was really cold, so she only had a sleeveless black shirt on. Propped up on her elbows, chest out, with her eyes closed and head tilted back, letting her long blonde hair flow down, Jane looked like something out of a car magazine.

"Jane," Sam began, "if you and Dean are broken up, how'd you get dragged into this?"

Jane sighed. Apparently, Sam wasn't going to let her relax. She turned her body a bit towards Sam's side of the car and said, "After Dean got John's voicemail, he called my dad looking for both info and backup. My dad knew nothing. He hadn't heard from John since their fallout."

"When was that and why?" asked Sam.

"About two years ago," answered Jane. "But it's not like it hadn't been building. They never could agree on how to raise the three of us."

Sam smiled, "I remember." John had been all about training his sons. Bobby had trained Jane, but still made sure she'd had a childhood.

"They had a big blowout after John told you if you left for Stanford, not to come back," Jane said. "But the final straw was..."

"Was what?" wondered Sam.

"That's a long story," said Jane, uncomfortably. Her discomfort led Sam to believe that John and Bobby's fallout had to do with Jane and Dean. "Anyway," continued Jane, "my dad couldn't even offer himself as backup. He had a hunt to go on himself. Plus, he has to be home as often as possible to answer phones, do research for hunters and run the salvage yard." She paused, feeling bad for not being home to help. "Dean asked if there were any other hunters free, but Caleb was on the east coast and Pastor Jim was laid up with a broken leg. That left..."

"You," Sam finished.

"My dad said that I was in Dean's general path and that if he caught me right, I'd be just finishing a revenant hunt," Jane said. "And Dean found me in a graveyard, after I'd gotten a revenant out of it's family home. It had turned out to be stronger than I thought and had yanked my gun away. Next thing I know, Dean's shouting from behind me to get down. He shoots the revenant full of silver, helps me up and we spend the next fifteen minutes or so arguing while pinning the thing to its coffin and burying it. When I calmed down and asked Dean why he had come, he told me about John. I asked if anyone else could help him. Then my phone rang...it was you."

"Oh." said Sam, "my call to tell you about my LSAT scores and interview."

"Yeah, great timing," Jane replied. "I lied and said it was my dad. Dean said to call him back. Maybe Dad knew of someone else Dean could work with. I didn't want to get my dad involved in this, so I told Dean it was you."

Sam grimaced, "Jane...

"Don't Jane me. I know we said when you left for school we'd keep in touch without Dean knowing, but that essentially put me in the middle for the past four years. I'm tired of it."

"I'm sorry," Sam said and he was. "But Dean can be so impossible...so much like dad..."

"Don't tell me," Jane interrupted. "Tell Dean. But try to remember, Dean does have feelings and right now, he feels..."

"Angry," Dean said, finally coming back to the car after watching Sam and Jane talking for awhile. He just couldn't take waiting any longer for them to finish. Good thing too; Jane was going to talk about **his** feelings. "Get off of my car!" he yelled to his ex.

Jane slid gracefully off and came to stand right in front of Dean, who now stood near Sam. "You never minded before," Jane said, referring to laying on the car roof.

"That was before," Dean stated. Before they broke up that was, when seeing Jane on top of the Impala made Dean want nothing more than to push her up against it and then pin her down in the backseat. ' _Stop, Dean,'_ he thought. _'Just stop.'_ Dean covered up his impure thoughts by shouting at Sam, "Hey!" When Sam looked at him, he said, "You want breakfast?"

Sam eyed the junk food Dean held out to him. Talk about old times. "No thanks," he replied.

Jane said in a slightly motherly tone, "Sam, you should eat."

"Maybe if Dean had bought something healthy," Sam shot back.

"Nope. Didn't," Dean said. "Next time, do your own shopping."

Sam replied, "Fine. I will."

"Well," Jane said, and quickly grabbed the soda and chips Dean had offered Sam, "no sense letting these go to waste." She got into the backseat before Dean could say anything.

' _First my car, now my food,'_ Dean thought. _Was she purposely trying to get a rise out of him?_

Sam interrupted Dean's thoughts, "So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?"

Dean answered, "Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career." He went and put the nozzle back on the gas pump. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

Sam challenged, "Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?" He swung his legs back inside the car and closed the door.

"Uh, Burt Aframian," replied Dean, like it was no big deal. He got in the driver's seat and put his own food down. "And his son Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal."

After Dean closed his door, Sam said, "That sounds about right." And, because there was nothing he liked in the box, "I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection."

Dean was offended, "Why?"

Sam sounded like he was stating the obvious, "Well, for one...they're cassette tapes. And two..." He held tapes up as he named them, "Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" Dean took the Metallica tape front his hand. Sam continued, "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

"Well, house rules, Sammy,'" said Dean, not caring what his brother thought about his music, and put the Metallica tape in the car's player. "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

"Real mature, Dean," Jane said from the back.

Sam grinned, but then he wanted to get one thing straight, "You know, Dean, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old." Suddenly, AC/DC began to play instead of Metallica. Dean must have mixed up the tapes, but then again, Sam's brother was never that organized. "It's Sam, okay?"

"Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud," said Dean, as he turned up the music, and then tried to talk over it.

 _'Oh yeah,'_ Sam thought as his brother started driving again, ' _Dean was a jerk too.'_


	4. Chapter 3

Once they were about seven miles from Jericho, on the Centennial Highway, Sam called the morgue and the hospital. No sense looking all over for John if they didn't have to.

Sam told Dean and Jane that no one fitting John's description was seen in either place. It wasn't much of a relief. It meant that John could be dead, but unfound. He could be injured, but too stubborn to get medical treatment...or he was busy and just plainly didn't want to be found.

Dean tried to keep his attention on the road instead of thinking about what could have happened to his father. As he drove further, he saw a bridge ahead...and three cars including two police vehicles...and several police officers...

"Check it out," Dean said. Sam and Jane's attention turned to the sight ahead and they looked on closely as Dean pulled over.

"Looks like another disappearance," Jane said.

Dean stopped the car and opened the glove compartment. He took out and opened a box full of fake ID's, much to Sam's shock. "Jane, you have, ID?"

"Which do you want?" Jane asked, pulling out her own ID's and starting to wish all three of them were dressed more professionally.

"Federal marshal?" Dean asked, hopefully, while holding that identification.

"Got it!" exclaimed Jane, putting the correct ID in her inner jacket pocket. "What about Sam?" Although Sam had been on hunts before Stanford, he'd been too young to impersonate anything more than a college student.

"We'll have to hope ours are enough and they won't need to see one from Sam," Dean said. However, Sam would need his own set of fake ID's if he kept hunting.

Jane put on gloves, "Hope you two can keep the police busy so I can check the car."

"No problem," Dean said, putting the box back. He looked to Sam, who was still shocked. "Let's go." The three of them got out of the Impala and began to approach the officers.

The lead officer, Deputy Jaffe, was leaning over the bridge's railing. He yelled down to two men wearing wetsuits who were searching the river, "You guys find anything?!"

One of the men yelled back, "No! Nothing!"

Deputy Jaffe turned back to the abandoned car in the middle of the bridge. Another deputy, Hein, was checking the driver's side.

Deputy Hein observed, "No sign of struggle. No footprints. No fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean."

Dean, Jane and Sam walk into the crime scene, the older two with more confidence. They listened to the deputies.

Deputy Jaffe asked Hein, "So...this kid Troy...he's dating your daughter, isn't he?"

"Yeah," replied Deputy Hein.

Jaffe was sympathetic, "How's Amy doing?"

"She's putting up missing posters downtown."

Dean interrupted, instantly getting the deputies to look at him, "You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?"

Deputy Jaffe asked, "And who are you?"

Dean and Jane flashed their ID's and Deputy Jaffe noticed Sam didn't.

Dean spoke again, "Federal marshals."

Jaffe was suspicious, "You three are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" After all, the one speaking was dressed like he was from _Rebel Without A Cause._ The woman looked like she was going out clubbing, and the one not showing ID belonged better in a college lecture hall.

"Thanks, that's awfully kind of you," laughed Dean.

"Anyway,"'Jane butted in before their identification could be further questioned. She gestured to herself, "Forensic specialist. Just going to check inside the car."

Jane went to the victim's car, opened it and leaned inside, making sure not to disrupt anything.

Dean and Sam came closer to the car, with the deputies watching their every move.

"You did have another one just like this, correct?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, that's right," answered Jaffe. "About a mile up the road. There've been others before that."

Sam finally spoke, "So, this victim...you knew him?"

Jaffe nodded, "Town like this, everybody knows everybody."

Dean said, as he circled the car, looking around, "Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?"

"No. Not so far as we can tell," said Jaffe.

Sam was following Dean, as he said, "So what's the theory?" The brothers stopped behind the back of the car.

"Honestly, we don't know," stated Jaffe. "Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?"

Dean became sarcastic, "Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." That was exactly why he had very little respect for local police squads.

Sam wasn't happy with Dean's disrespect...and promptly stomped on his brother's foot.

Jane, by then finished with her search, stood nearest Sam, but faced both brothers. She was clearly annoyed with them.

It was time to go, so Sam said politely to the officers, "Thank you for your time."

Jane turned and started to walk away with Sam following her. Dean began walking, but hung back, watching Sam continue to be polite to the policemen they passed. Once a little distance away from the deputies, Dean rushed up behind his little brother...and smacked Sam on the head.

"Ow!" Sam yelled quietly, aware they were still in earshot of the police, "What was that for?"

"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean said, pissed.

"Why do you have to talk to the police like that?" Sam shot back.

"Will you both knock it off?" Jane turned and hissed. She then glared at Dean, "Especially you who's done this before. We have to at least try to work with the locals." She turned back.

Dean moved ahead, turned and stopped right in front of Jane and Sam, forcing the younger two to stop.

"Come on, you two," Dean urged, "They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad, we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." Jane wanted to remind Dean that they had to start working together and quit fighting, but Dean spoke before she did, "And I didn't see you sharing your findings from the car."

"That's because there were no findings," Jane stated.

"None?" Dean asked.

"Nothing that could be seen with the eyes, nor detected with standard equipment," said Jane. "Maybe if the police hadn't been around, I could have used a blacklight or some..."

Sam cleared his throat, cutting Jane off. He was looking over Dean's shoulder, so Dean turned...and found himself in front of Jericho's sheriff and two FBI agents.

Luckily for the boys and Jane, the sheriff and agents had walked right past them with little trouble...although the sheriff had definitely sounded suspicious when he asked if he could help them.

But help had to come from somewhere else...like the victim (Troy's) girlfriend Amy, and her friend Rachel - who the hunters met downtown. Amy wasn't able to tell them anything about Troy's disappearance despite being the last (living?) person to speak with him. Rachel was much more helpful by telling the boys and Jane about the town legend - "This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago...supposedly she's still out there...she hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear...forever."

That bit of information led the three to think vengeful spirit. That led to doing further research on a library computer. However, Dean typing in 'Female Murder Hitchhiking' and 'Female Murder Centennial Highway' yielded no results.

Dean was getting frustrated. Research, though necessary, was his least favorite part of hunting. Sam was equally frustrated...but only because Dean wouldn't let him try when research **was** his favorite. So, Sam tried to grab the mouse...and Dean slapped his brother's hand away.

Sam retaliated by forcefully rolling Dean's chair out of the way. Then he moved his own chair in front of the computer. "Dude!" yelled Dean, who rolled back to Sam and hit his brother on the shoulder. "You're such a control freak."

Jane, who was sitting to the side, out of range, watched on. She was thankful that Sam didn't point out that Dean had originally tried to control the internet search. All in all, the brother's rivalry, aside from the fact that it could have blown their cover on the bridge, was harmless. But, in her and her father's experience with the Winchesters, bantering and minor disagreements could escalate into fisticuffs and weapons being drawn.

Good thing Sam taking over the search met with success. He'd replaced 'murder' with 'suicide', which was another way in which angry spirits formed. An article titled "Suicide on Centennial" popped up and was clicked on.

Sam summarized for Dean and Jane, "This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river." He memorized Constance's picture.

"Does it say why she did it?" Dean asked.

Sam scanned again to make sure he had the facts right, "Yeah."

"What?" Dean was a bit impatient.

"An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently, her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die."

"Good job, Sam," said Jane.

Dean raised his eyebrows while looking hard at the picture of the Sylvania Bridge, "Hm." They'd just been there, he realized.

'"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it, said husband Joseph Welch,'" read Sam out loud, while studying Mr. Welch's photo.

Dean said, lastly, "The bridge look familiar to you two?"


	5. Chapter 4

Later that night, the boys and Jane returned to the Sylvania Bridge. They leaned over the railing and looked at the river below.

Dean stated, "So this is where Constance took the swan dive."

"That's quite a drop," Jane observed. "If that didn't kill her, the fast current did."

"So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam spoke up, looking to Dean.

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him," answered Dean, who began walking on. Sam followed, while Jane hung back watching the brothers.

"Okay, so now what?" Sam wondered.

Dean didn't like Sam's tone, "Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while."

Sam stopped. That was **not** what he wanted to hear, "Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday..."

Dean turned around, "Monday. Right. The interview."

"Yeah," Sam insisted.

"Yeah, I forgot," Dean replied. But he hadn't forgotten; he just didn't want to hear about it. Dad was in trouble and to Dean, that took priority. Family always did. Why didn't Sam get that?

Jane was now tense. She had a bad feeling...

She wasn't wrong as Dean pressed his case, "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?"

"Maybe," Sam said. He had, in fact, been looking at rings. Jane knew that and had even offered to help him shop. Maybe his brother and Jane broke up because Dean couldn't commit officially. Well, his brother was an idiot if that was the case, and Sam didn't plan on making the same mistake, "Why not?"

Dean explained, thinking it was obvious, "Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

Sam moved closer to Dean. His anger was building, "No, and she's not ever going to know."

"Well, that's healthy," Dean said, sarcastically. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later, you're going to have to face up to who you really are." Part of him didn't want to tell Sam this, but his brother needed a reality check.

Sam watched Dean turn and walk away from him. Following behind, Sam asked, "And who's that?"

"You're one of us."

Afraid of being just that, Sam hurried in front of Dean, "No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."

Dean would get it through Sam's skull even if he had to beat it into him, "You have a responsibility to..."

"To Dad?" Sam cut in. "And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like." Sadly, true. "And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back."

Such the wrong thing to say because if bringing up Dad's obsessive behavior was the dynamite, bringing up Mom was the fire to light its fuse...Dean exploded and grabbed Sam's shirt collar, shoving his baby brother up against the bridge railing.

"Dean!" Jane shouted from behind her ex. This was the outburst from Dean she'd been expecting since picking Sam up.

Ignoring Jane because he had to get this out, Dean spoke to Sam with a quiet, potentially dangerous, rage. "Don't talk about her like that."

"Dean, please," begged Jane. "Let him go." Dean did. He walked away, while Jane checked Sam for injury, "Are you okay?" Sam nodded, more scared of and for Dean than anything...

Then, Dean called out the younger two hunters names. Sam and Jane looked at what Dean was staring at, eventually coming to stand with him...and there was Constance. She was standing on the edge of the bridge's railing...mournful...in a low cut, torn, white dress. She looked over to the hunters. Then, before the boys and Jane's eyes, Constance stepped off the bridge.

Dean, rushing over with Sam and Jane, looked downward and asked, "Where'd she go?"

Sam replied, "I don't know."

"I think she just disappeared," said Jane. But before they could further consider Constance's jumping off, the Impala's engine started and its headlights came on.

Staring at his car in disbelief, Dean said, "What the..."

"Dude," Sam questioned, "Who's driving your car?" Dean pulled out his keys and jingled them for Sam, showing that no one should be.

"Not good," said Jane, nervously. As if on cue, the car jerked into motion...and drove straight for the hunters...who turned and started running.

Despite Sam telling Dean and Jane to go and them all going as fast as possible - the car was faster. Once the Impala was almost on them, the three leapt over the bridge railing...and then the car stopped.

Thankfully, having caught himself on the bridge's structure underneath, Sam hung on. Which wasn't easy because his legs were being held on to by Jane. He said, "I hope my arms hold out." Jane was surprisingly heavy.

"I hope your legs hold out," Jane shot back.

"Can you climb up?" Sam asked.

Jane looked around. Unfortunately, the only thing to climb up was Sam. "Yes," she said, "But I apologize in advance." After Sam gave her the go ahead - and with some groping that neither wanted to mention...ever - Jane climbed up and off Sam and pulled herself back onto the bridge. With her help, Sam joined her...

And then they realized Dean wasn't there. They looked around and below, calling Dean's name, getting more afraid as they suspected the worst. Sam was worried that the last things he'd said to Dean were said in that fight...

But then Sam and Jane saw movement below...and there was Dean crawling out of the river, onto the mud. Panting, annoyed and absolutely filthy Dean shouted up at Sam and Jane.

Sam asked his brother, "Are you all right?"

Holding up a hand in an A-Ok sign, Dean replied, "I'm super." Sam and Jane laughed in relief.

In fact, Jane was so relieved that when Dean joined them back on the bridge, she wanted to hug him. She didn't though because he was covered in drying, sticky mud...and they were broken up.

To avoid any chick-flicks with either Jane or Sam, Dean went to check his car and opened the hood. After closing it, Sam asked Dean, "Your car all right?"

"Yeah," said Dean, "Whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick; what a bitch!" He sat on the back of his car almost in defeat. Jane and Sam came closer to him.

"Well," Sam said, "she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure." He watched Jane sit on the car next to Dean, and then sat down on her other side before asking, "So, where's the job go from here, genius?"

Not knowing either, Dean threw his arms up in frustration, and then, tried to get some mud off his hands. Both actions flicked mud in the air...and onto Jane, who made a disgusted face. Sam brushed off the tiny bit that hit him and sniffed. He looked at Dean and said, "You smell like a toilet."

Jane couldn't help adding, "You look like you came out of one too."

Dean looked down at himself. He hated to admit it, but they were right.


	6. Chapter 5

The hunters didn't make it to a motel till after the sun rose on the morning of November 2nd. It was a date that meant a lot to the Winchester family. Exactly twenty-two years ago, Mary Winchester had been murdered and burned on the ceiling of Sam's nursery. If either brother had any thoughts on the day, they weren't talking about it.

Dean checked into the motel using his fake 'Hector Aframian' credit card and was surprised to find that the clerk remembered John, or rather, 'Burt Aframian'. Dad had rented out a room for a whole month!

Having paid for a room to keep up appearances, the boys and Jane went to John's room. They hadn't seen John's truck anywhere, so it was safe to say the man was out. Sam, finding the door indeed locked, used his pick on it.

The door opened. Jane walked in. Sam followed. Dean, playing lookout, took forever to get inside...so Sam grabbed his brother's shoulders and yanked him in.

Once Sam closed the door, the three looked around. The room's walls were almost completely covered in papers - maps, newspaper articles, pictures, notes in John's handwriting, etc. Books cluttered the desk. Other junk, including several symbols, was on the bed and floor.

Sam exclaimed, "Whoa!" John was a military man and much more orderly than this.

While Sam stood near a salt line on the floor, Dean went to the bed and turned on a lamp. He picked up and sniffed a half-eaten hamburger, wanting to vomit a bit from its rancid smell. He said, "I don't think Dad's been here for a couple days, at least."

"Yeah," said Jane, who was examining the drawn symbols, "I feel like I just returned home after being away for a few weeks." Her father was terribly messy and she was the housekeeper. "Looks like John bugged out fast."

Sam, now fingering the salt line, agreed and said, "Salt...cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in."

Dean moved on - to one portion of wall - and looked at the pictures and papers. He recognized their content. Jane and Sam joined him.

"What have you got here?" Sam asked.

Dean replied, "Centennial Highway victims." He studied and looked for similarities, "I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs..." Sam crossed to another wall still listening to Dean, "ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?"

Sam studied the papers he was in front of. Some of it didn't go together...like Dad had many things he was working on at once. The one thing that did make sense to Sam was the article on Constance Welch's suicide and Dad's note reading, 'Woman In White'. He turned on a lamp and announced, "Dad figured it out." Jane and Dean looked at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Dean.

Sam explained, "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white."

With new understanding, Dean looked back at Constance's victims. He grinned, "You sly dogs."

"Not that sly," Jane said in a huff, "they're dead."

Dean's grin fell, "Well, I'm not condoning..."

"Just drop it," Jane said. Dean did, though Sam had already gotten a glimpse of something personal.

"All right," Dean said, getting back to the case, "so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."

"She might have another weakness," Sam suggested.

"Well, Dad would want to make sure," said Dean. He walked past Jane and came to Sam. "He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?"

"No," Sam said as he skimmed John's papers, "not that I can tell." His gaze stopped on Joseph Welch's photo, "If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." He tapped the picture, "If he's still alive."

As Sam went to look at something else, Dean said to him, "All right. Why don't you and Jane, uh, see if you can find an address..."

Jane interrupted, "Actually, I'm gonna go wash up and change in the other room."

Dean didn't like that idea, "I don't think we should split up..."

Jane's voice rose, "I just need some space." She walked to the door. "I'll be back." And then she was gone.

Dean sighed, "I'm gonna get cleaned up too." He started to walk away when Sam called to him. Dean turned back to Sam, waiting.

Sam spoke, uneasy, "What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad...I'm sorry."

Holding up a hand, Dean said firmly, "No chick-flick moments." Sam laughed and nodded. It was typical Dean.

Sam accepted it, "All right...jerk." Just like old times.

"Bitch," Dean said. Sam laughed again, and for a moment, things were right in Dean's world. The older man went off to take a shower.

Sam looked away from Dean's direction...and several things caught his eye - a large mirror with a rosary hanging from it...and more importantly, three pictures stuck in the frame. Sam went to look more closely, getting a little sad:

One picture showed John sitting on the Impala's hood with a very young Sam in his lap. Dean, in a baseball cap sat next to John. Jane sat on Dean's other side. Sam vaguely remembered they'd been on some camping trip along with Bobby, who'd insisted on taking the picture. Another photo was of Dean and Jane, taken at Bobby's house, before the then-couple went off to Jane's senior prom. That night, Jane had looked incredible. She and Dean had been happy and very much in love. The last picture was of Sam at his high school graduation...just over two months before he left for Stanford. John hadn't even been there. He'd been on a hunt, so someone must have given this photo to him.

Though still sad, and surprised by his father's sentimentality, Sam smiled as he grabbed the picture of John and the young kids. It represented a much simpler time.

When Jane returned to John's room - dressed in jeans and a gray sleeveless shirt, but still in her black leather jacket - Sam was sitting on John's bed holding out his phone. Staying quiet, Jane heard a voicemail from Jessica dated last night...

A voicemail that Sam shut off when a cleaned up Dean finally came walking out. Grabbing his jacket and putting it on only one arm, Dean said, "Hey. I'm starving. I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You two want anything?"

"No," Sam said. More than anything, he wanted to hear Jess' voice...to know she was okay.

"Mind if I come with you?" Jane asked Dean.

"Nah," replied Dean. But he wanted his brother - who Dean hadn't seen eat anything - to come too. Dean tried to persuade Sam, "Aframian's buying."

When Sam shook his head said no again, Jane came to his rescue, "We'll give you some privacy." Sam thanked her and she gave Dean a 'drop it' look.

"Let's go then," Dean said to Jane. He walked out the door...but he was **so** bringing Sam something back and making him eat it.

However, once Dean left John's room with Jane right behind him, he saw the police car...and the deputies from the bridge talking outside the lobby with the motel clerk. The clerk pointed to Dean and Jane...and the police looked their way.

"Great," Jane said and Dean turned to her, taking out his phone. The police had probably been there when Jane had moved between rooms. She just hadn't been paying any attention to her surroundings.

Sam had just finished listening to Jess' message when his phone beeped. Seeing it was Dean, he said, "What?"

With the deputies approaching, Dean said, "Dude, five-oh. Take off."

Standing up, Sam said, "What about you and Jane?"

"Uh, they kinda spotted us," Dean replied. "Go find Dad." He hung up just as the the deputies were upon him and Jane. At Jane's signal, Dean turned back and grinned at Jaffe and Hein. "Problem, officers?"

Deputy Jaffe asked, "Where's your other partner?"

"Partner?" Dean asked back, looking at Jane too, "What...what other partner?" But the cops didn't buy Dean's act, as Jaffe gestured to Hein with his thumb to check John's motel room. Peeking through the blinds and seeing Hein coming, Sam moved away from the window to make a quick escape.

Jaffe continued questioning Dean and Jane, "So...fake US Marshal...fake credit cards...you two got anything that's real?"

"My boobs," said Dean, humorously. Jane wanted to knock the grin off his face and regretted not taking the lead...but it was too late to do anything. Jaffe and Hein grabbed Jane and Dean's arms, putting them behind their backs. Hein then slammed Dean particularly hard on top of the cop car's hood.

"Easy," Dean said to the deputies. He was looking to Jane, though. He didn't want her harmed. Jaffe began to read the hunters their rights, and Dean looked to Jane. He couldn't resist, "Maybe I should have said your boobs?" Jane glared at Dean, but chose to remain silent.


	7. Chapter 6

Dean and Jane were stuck sitting and waiting in the local sheriff's office. They hadn't spoken since the arrest. _'If only I'd stepped in and called my father,'_ Jane thought. This was embarrassing for her. She'd gotten people out of these messes before, but never gotten herself into one.

Finally, Sheriff Pierce walked in, carrying a box, which he set down on a table in front of Dean and Jane. Facing Dean, specifically, he said, "So you want to give us your real names?"

"We told you; it's Nugent," Dean repeated pointing to himself. Then, a little slower, "Ted Nugent." He moved his head to the side, gesturing at Jane, "and Joan Jett."

Pierce didn't like these two one bit, "I'm not sure you two realize just how much trouble you're in here." Jane did. These cops clearly wanted to close the Centennial Highway disappearances. Being strangers made her and Dean convenient suspects...

And Dean just wouldn't shut up, "We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble, or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?"

"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall," Pierce clarified. That meant that the police had raided John's room. "Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo. You two are officially suspects."

"That makes sense," stated Dean. "Because when the first one went missing in '82, I was three and she was one." He looked at Jane, "Admit it, you gummed him to death." Jane admitted nothing.

"I know you've got more partners," Pierce said. "One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So, tell me, Dean...Jane..." From the box, Pierce took out a much-used, brown leather-covered journal. He tossed it on the table, "This his?" Dean stared at the journal, reacting enough to let the sheriff know he had the punk. Flipping through the book (filled with content similar to what was on the motel room's walls ) to make his point, Pierce said, "I thought those might be your names. See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out...I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy..." As Dean leaned forward to look closer, Pierce added, "But I found this, too." He turned to a page with 'DEAN 35-111' on it, surrounded by a circle, "Now. You two are stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means." Dean stared hard at the page. Then, he looked up at Pierce and then to Jane.

It was night by the time the sheriff started to let up in his interrogation. Dean's story wasn't changing. The young man said, "I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. It's my high school locker combo."

"We gonna do this all night long?" Sheriff Pierce asked Dean and then looked to Jane.

Jane, who'd been pretty quiet thus far, spoke, "So long as you choose not to believe him. But it's the truth. I know because we shared a locker the years we were in school together. Actually, it mostly held my stuff." She pointed to Dean, "He rarely brought books." Dean gave her a look. "But it was a great place to meet up because his father didn't like me and my father didn't like him." Her last statement was currently true...in one major way. John hadn't liked Jane for a few years now...which reminded her that - before Dean read that journal, as she was sure he would - Jane needed to see just what John had written about her.

As for the sheriff, he knew he was going to have to try a new strategy...

But just then, a deputy leaned into the office, reporting, "We just got a 911. Shots fired over at Whiteford Road."

As much as he didn't want to leave his suspects, Sheriff Pierce knew the shooting was more pressing...and would probably be easier to solve. To Dean and Jane, he asked, "Either of you have to go to the bathroom?" When Dean answered no, the sheriff cuffed the man's right hand to the table and his left to Jane's right.

"What?" said Jane as she realized what was going on. "No..." Then the sheriff left the room and she called after him, "You could have handcuffed me to the table too!"

When it was clear that the sheriff was gone, Dean eyed Jane, "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

"I don't want to be handcuffed to you," replied Jane.

"No, I got that," said Dean. "Your little speech backing me up though..."

"You'd think you'd be grateful," Jane said. "It's bought us enough time for Sam to help us get out." It was an old trick of her father's. If you couldn't convincingly lie to the police (or get someone else to do it for you), trick them into getting their mind off of you.

"I would have been more grateful if you'd said it sooner," Dean said bitterly.

"I thought the sheriff would have given up sooner," Jane said. "We're lucky though that he didn't separate us."

"That was probably coming next," Dean replied. And he didn't want to think what might happen if they were. "So what do you say we get out of here?" He reached with his left for a paperclip he saw in John's journal...and pulled Jane with him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Jane. She glared at Dean.

"Oops." Dean hadn't meant to hurt her.

"Dean, we need to talk."

"Now?"

"Yes, now," Jane said. "Especially since we can't walk away from each other."

"Okay."

"When we get out of here, and go after Constance...a **woman** in **white**..." Jane paused. "Do I need to worry about you?"

"Do you need to..." Dean was confused. "Why..." Then he thought back to Jane's reaction in his father's motel room. "Jane, I'm not a target for Constance." Jane eyed him in slight disbelief. "I never cheated on you. Why would you even think that?"

Jane sighed. "You remember that hunt at Stanford you went on with John two years ago?"

"Yeah...right after our week off at your place," Dean said, thinking back, wanting to smile. That had been some week with Jane. Wonderful. Then his father had come home, from a hunt with Bobby, in a bad mood and barely acknowledging Jane. Next, John said there was a spirit on Stanford's campus and Dean was immediately worried for Sam. Dean had wanted to bring Jane on the hunt, but John had refused. Still, Dean and Jane had left each other with a kiss goodbye...and a see you soon. As for Sam, he'd been fine - the spirit was after a few specific girls - and the job took less time than Dean thought it would. Of course, seeing Sam settled and happy, even walking and talking with a girl Dean now knew as Jessica, was awesome...though also awful. "But what's that got to do with us?" At no point could Dean remember a reason for Jane to distrust him.

"The morning after you finished the hunt, you sent me a picture from your phone...of you with a girl in your bed."

"I never had a girl in my bed!" At least, Dean didn't think he had. No, he wouldn't have done such a thing to Jane...although, now that he really thought about it, that morning...and the night before... were a little fuzzy.

"Dean, I had the picture." Dean had been sleeping, but the girl - who'd taken it like she wanted Dean to remember her - had smiled quite nicely.

"Do you still have it?"

"Of course not," Jane said. "I got rid of that phone right after I got rid of you."

"Well I swear, Jane. I wouldn't cheat." Dean thought harder, "After the Stanford hunt, my dad and I went to a bar and.."

"And?"

"There was a girl..."

"Dean..."

"And she flirted with me," Dean said and saw he was digging himself an early grave. "But I told her I was taken and she walked away." He saw he'd dug himself out...a little. "Then I must have had too much to drink because I didn't wake up till late in the morning and I was a little sick." Which was odd because he didn't think he'd drank that much. He'd wanted to get back to Jane as fast as possible.

"That doesn't really help your case," Jane said. Even if Dean did blackout, it didn't excuse him.

"How about this?" Dean said, triumphantly, "I woke up with my pants on."

"Because you put them back on."

"I was trying to keep this clean," said Dean. "There was no condom..."

"Dean!"

"And no stains on the bed," Dean added quickly. "Not new ones anyway." He paused and saw that Jane wasn't mad at him anymore. "I promise, I didn't..."

"Okay," Jane said. She wanted to believe him. "I just wanted to know because of this hunt."

"You could have known two years ago if you'd just told me," Dean replied. "Instead of using the job and my father as excuses to break up..."

"Those weren't excuses," she said, firmly. "You will always run to John when he calls. That's why we're here now. And John cares only about hunting, and so do you now."

"My dad cares about more than..." but sometimes Dean thought otherwise too, even though he didn't want to admit it. " **I** care about more than hunting. You...and Sam..."

"Now there's an example."

"I love that kid," Dean stated.

"You nearly choked him for thinking he was turning his back on the job."

Dean objected, "He was turning his back on the family."

"Which is all about the job," Jane argued back. "Either way, still no reason to choke your brother...who doesn't exactly feel loved."

"What am I supposed to do?" Dean pleaded. "Accept his lifestyle choices?"

"Yes," Jane said. "And support him."

"I don't know if I can," Dean replied. "I feel like I'll lose him if we don't have hunting to tie us together."

"Dean, you and Sam have a bond unlike any siblings I know. I've been in the middle of it. Nothing can break that bond unless you two let it. And you will if you make Sam hunt. To hang on to it, you need to let him go."

"And if he doesn't come back?" Dean asked.

"Then I'm just wrong and a bad judge of character," Jane said. What else was there to say?

"I wish my dad was here," Dean said.

"We'll find him."

" **We** will?"

Jane raised her eyebrow, "Well, let's get this straight. We will find John together, but we won't be **together**. It's easier that way. And we will do it with or without Sam. His choice. And if he chooses no, we still call or visit to let him know he has a family. Are we clear?"

"Yeah," Dean said. He could work with that...or he'd try. "How about you help me get that paperclip, so we can get back to Sam?" Jane nodded.


	8. Chapter 7

Once they were free, Dean - who made sure to grab his dad's journal - and Jane found the station mostly empty...but still didn't want the hassle of any cops. So, they went out the office's back window and down the fire escape.

Having had their cell phones taken from them, Dean and Jane had to use a pay phone to call Sam. The younger man was driving the Impala when Dean called. ' _About time,'_ he thought, but he answered, "Hey."

"Fake 911 phone call?" Dean joked. "Sammy, I don't know. That's pretty illegal."

"You're welcome," Sam snorted, but was grinning.

"You did good, Sam," Jane said, doing her best to share the phone.

Dean got serious, "Listen, we gotta talk."

"Tell me about it," said Sam, full of news. While Dean and Jane had been with the cops, he'd been on the job. That included an interview with Joseph Welch, actually finding out that John - posing as a reporter - had spoken to the man three or four days ago. "So the husband was unfaithful." Not that Welch had admitted it, just maybe that he'd made some mistakes. "We are dealing with a woman in white." Sam had even told Welch about the phenomenon...and Welch had gotten pissed at him for thinking his Constance could kill her own children. "And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop..."

Dean had to stop Sam right there, "Sammy, would you shut up for a second?"

But just as when they were kids, and Sam really got going, he was unstoppable, "I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet..."

"Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you," said Dean in exasperation. "He's gone. Dad left Jericho."

"What?" Sam said, surprised. "How do you know?"

"I've got his journal," Dean said, even tightening his grip on it.

Sam was confused, "He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."

"Yeah," Dean said, "well, he did, this time."

"But he left Dean a message," Jane spoke up.

"What's it say?" asked Sam.

Dean answered, "Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap. When he wants to let us know where he's going..."

"Coordinates," Sam concluded. "Where to?"

"I'm not sure yet," Dean said. Not like he'd had time to look them up.

Sam started up again, "I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, Jane...what the hell is going on?"

Jane tried to console, "We'll figure it..."

But suddenly, the Impala's brakes screeched as Sam, who also dropped his phone, slammed them...in reaction to seeing Constance in the road in front of him. The car continued, driving through Constance, before Sam could stop. He could hear Dean and Jane call his name, but he didn't have time to say he was okay...as Constance appeared in the backseat.

She said to Sam, "Take me home." When he didn't start the car, she demanded angrily, "Take me home!"

Sam was determined, "No." But he wasn't given a choice...because the doors locked and the gas pedal pressed down. Constance, though flickering, and despite Sam struggling, was in control...and driving the car to her chosen destination...

That destination was Constance's old abandoned, wrecked house. Constance pulled the car up to it and turned off the engine and lights.

"Don't do this," Sam told Constance. He wasn't sure why he was on her radar. He'd never been unfaithful.

Constance was sadly and nervously looking at her house, ignoring Sam's plea. "I can never go home."

"You're scared to go home," said Sam in realization. Then he looked at the backseat...Constance was gone. He looked all around, getting more concerned...and Constance appeared right next to him. She climbed onto his lap, forcing him and his seat backward hard.

As Sam struggled, a needy Constance said, "Hold me. I'm so cold."

"You can't kill me," Sam protested. "I'm not unfaithful. I've never been!"

"You will be," the spirit said, certain. "Just hold me." And now Sam was convinced that it didn't matter if he or any of the guys she killed had been unfaithful before meeting Constance...so long as they'd cheated with her...

And Constance kissed Sam. Sam continued to fight it, but it didn't do any good. Then, Constance pulled away...and showed her true - horribly rotted - face to Sam and disappeared. Sam looked, waiting...and yelled in agony as five holes were burned into his chest. Constance reappeared, her fingers fitting those holes, and she tried to push deeper into Sam. She was going to rip him apart...

Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the passenger side window. It startled Constance. Dean was there, firing again. The spirit, glaring at Dean, vanished...and came back. Dean fired again until she vanished again.

"Sam," Jane, coming to Dean's side, called out. "You okay?"

Sam didn't answer her. He sat up and started the car, talking to Constance, though she wasn't visible, "I'm taking you home." Before Dean or Jane could stop him...and **yes** , Sam was desperate...he drove the Impala into the side of Constance's house.

Calling out Sam's name to make sure he was alive and unharmed (though that might change if Dean found his car excessively damaged), Dean and Jane came to the Impala's front passenger side.

"Sam! You okay?" Dean asked.

"I think..." Sam began as he made an effort to check that all his body parts moved.

"You think that maybe crashing the car wasn't such a bright idea?" Jane asked.

Dean gave Jane a look before addressing Sam again, "Can you move?"

"Yeah," Sam said, painfully. "Help me?" Dean and Jane did.

Meanwhile, Constance - visible again and in her house for the first time since her death - picked up an old framed picture of herself with her two children. With Sam safely out of the car, the boys and Jane turned their attention to Constance. The spirit took notice of them, glared and threw down her picture. Using her power, she moved a bureau across the room...and pinned the hunters to the Impala with it.

Before Constance could do worse...the lights flickered. Constance became afraid. Water began pouring down the staircase, leading from an upstairs bathroom. The spirit moved to the stairs...and saw her children - spirits too - at the top.

Holding hands, Constance's children spoke together, "You've come home to us, Mommy." Constance was terrified. And then her children came at her...ended up behind her...embracing her tightly. The woman in white, finally confronted with her own original wrongdoing, screamed...and kept screaming as she and her children melted into a puddle on the floor.

With Constance gone, the bureau was no longer forcibly pinning the hunters, and they shoved it off. They went to the spot Constance and her children melted into. Kneeling down, Jane touched the puddle, much to Dean's audible disapproval. "It's just water," she told the brothers. She wiped her hand on her jeans as she stood.

Dean wouldn't have touched it. "So this is where she drowned her kids."

Sam nodded at his brother, "That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them."

Dean had to give Sam credit, "You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy." He couldn't resist being a jerk though and slapped Sam's injured chest before going to his car.

Sam laughed, despite the pain Dean caused. "I should take a look at that," Jane said about Sam's wound.

Sam nodded at her, and looked back at Dean. "Wish I could say the same for you, Dean. What were you thinking, shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

"Hey," Dean argued, willing to do it again in a heartbeat and glad it worked. "Saved your ass." Too bad he couldn't have saved his car from Sam. Dean went back to checking the Impala. She was gonna need a car wash, a paint job and who knew what else after this. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?" He twisted to look back at Sam, "I'll kill you." Sam just laughed and Jane smiled...but Dean was damn serious.

Luckily for Sam, the only real damage to the Impala was a busted right headlight. But bad enough...like punching his baby in the eye...

"Dean, stop sulking," Jane warned, as she made note that she needed more gauze. "It could have been worse." That was true.

Sam was wise to keep quiet. He would like to say he'd pay for the headlight and any other damage, but money was tight for him and Jess. Sam, instead, occupied himself with locating John's coordinates on the map he had on his lap. Finally finding the place, Sam spoke, "Okay, here's where Dad went. It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."

"Sounds charming," said Dean. Though, not really.

"Sounds like camping," said Jane, suspiciously. "We'll need supplies." She grabbed a notepad and pen from her bag and started a checklist.

Dean only wanted to know, "How far?"

"About six hundred miles," answered Sam, after double checking the map.

"Hey," said Dean, up for it, "if we shag ass we could make it by morning."

Sam became hesitant, changing the mood in the car, "Dean, I, um..."

"You're not going," Dean filled in the blanks.

Sam was apologetic...but..."The interview's in like, ten hours." It would be interesting enough trying to focus - what with the weekend's events and no sleep. "I gotta be there." And he would. That was his life now.

Dean was disappointed, but he met Jane's eyes in his rearview mirror. They'd had an agreement. So did he and Sam. "Yeah. Yeah, whatever," Dean said and looked to his brother, "I'll take you home." So they drove on...in darkness, as Sam and Jane turned their flashlights off. The three remained quiet for the rest of the ride...with Dean's music and car filling up their silence.


	9. Chapter 8

When they pulled up outside Sam's apartment, Dean was still upset. Deal or no deal...he didn't like this. Sam belonged with his family.

As Sam got out to get his stuff from the Impala's trunk, Jane leaned over Dean's seat to whisper a threat in his ear. "Say something nice to him or I make your life miserable for the next 600 miles." Jane leaned back and scooted out of the passenger side door to come and stand in front of Sam. "Bye, Sam." She wrapped him up in her arms.

Sam hugged Jane back saying goodbye. He let go and leaned into his side of the Impala to tell Dean, "Call me if you find him?" His brother nodded and Sam tried to compromise. After all, he'd be on Christmas break in less than two months and on summer break soon enough. "And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?"

"Yeah, all right," Dean said, doubtful. He caught sight of Jane glaring at him. He was in for it. Seeing Sam pat his car twice and turn from him, Dean leaned toward his brother, "Sam?" Thankfully, Sam came back. "You know, we all made a hell of a team back there."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. They really had. He was smiling as he looked to Jane, who was also smiling. Sam opened the car door for her. Jane thanked him...told him to be careful...and then Dean drove away. Sam sighed. He'd do his best to keep in touch this time.

Upon entering his apartment, Sam found it dark and quiet. He called to Jess, but no answer. He closed the door and asked Jess if she was home. Still no answer. Sam checked his watch. It wasn't working. ' _Probably busted it on the hunt,'_ he thought. If it was the time Sam thought it was, Jess would be in the shower, and; therefore, unable to hear him.

Sam walked further on and saw a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table. He smiled. Jess was the best. She even wrote him a note, ' _Missed you! Love you!'_ He took a cookie and went into the bedroom. The shower was indeed on. Sam sat on the bed, shut his eyes and laid down...waiting for the gorgeous sight of his girlfriend...all wet...

All wet? There was wetness forehead. Could Sam, so tired, completely have fallen asleep? Could Jess have found him that way and be dripping on him to wake him? Another drip...Sam flinched...it felt thicker than water. And it smelled like...

Sam opened his eyes, gasping in horror. Above him, Jess (just as his father had found his mother twenty-two years before) was on the ceiling. She was staring right at Sam. Her dead face was frozen with its own look of horror. And she was dripping blood on Sam from a slash along her stomach. Just like his mother...

"No!" Sam screamed. And just like his mother, Sam's girlfriend burst into flames. The fire...spread across the ceiling...engulfing it...and Jess...

Sam never heard Dean - who hadn't driven far when his and Jane's watches had mysteriously stopped - kick in his front door. Sam didn't hear Dean and Jane call him. All he did was continue screaming for Jess...and he tried to cover his face from the fire and debris that now fell on and around him. Sam barely registered Dean - who still very much had issues concerning his mother's death - and Jane barging into his bedroom. Dean and Jane saw Jess for themselves and knew Sam was too hysterical to move from the bed on his own. Braving the spreading fire, the former couple grabbed a struggling Sam and dragged him from the bedroom...and outside the apartment building to safety.

Dean and Jane watched intensely as the firemen put out the last of the fire. Most of the building had survived...save for Sam and Jessica's apartment. If they'd been any later... **no** , Dean couldn't even think about it. He'd carried Sam out of their burning family home exactly twenty-two years earlier. He wasn't letting anything happen to the kid now.

Dean and Jane turned away from the apartment building and walked to Sam, who was standing in front of the Impala's open trunk. The younger man was loading a shotgun...not the smartest thing to do with police close by. But Sam wasn't thinking...normal. His normal was gone. He thought about revenge...like a hunter...like his dad. Seeing Dean and Jane with him, and worried about him, Sam tossed the gun in the trunk. Before Dean and Jane could try to comfort him, he said five important words...

"We have work to do." And he slammed the trunk.

To be continued in episode 2...


End file.
